Guard wheel



7 NOV. 22, 1932. J, JARVIS ET AL 1,888,726

GUARD WHEEL Filed Dec. 24, 1950 INVENTOR NELSON L. JARVIS. FRANK.zwnnws.

Jig/f Patented Nov. 22, 1932 mm: :JrmRvIs Annxznnrsonun. .mnvas,on:rnrmnaamissncrmsnrrsa@ ssIGnoRs rogmnms mmmrmv1s,z;mc., ormnmum;MASSACHUSETTS;-AHCORFORLTIONpQE' MAssAcEUsETrs; w

I spiineiiii mfired.necemi er 24, 1950 seria na.sorjsazl] 1 Thisinvenapn relates toj improvements" in guard wheels forzcasters-ands1m1lar dev1ces.

"One oflth'e principal'fobjects of the invention" to provide; improvedmeans for preservingandimaintainingisilch 'a' guard wheel in? asanitaryconditiomwh'e'reby the collection ofidis'ease germs thereon is kept to amini: mum .andlwh'ereby thosethat do collect. are easily removed andftheguard wheel cleansed andldisinfect'edy A Another object of the inventionis toprovideo an. improved guard wheel :free from pockets thatwillfca-tch and retain dust, and germ. deposits, thatis easily cleansed,that is :fr'eelyrotatable, that will have a tendency todflect. dust andgerm deposits, that is inconspicuous, and. that is preservative of thesurfaces-with which itcomes-in contact.

Another object of the invention. is to provide'an improved guard wheelof these characteristics that 'iseconomic'alfof construction and durableas to wear "and-.jservice.

Otheriobjects of the invention areto provide, an. improved yieldingrimmed guard wheel in which the rim'tire may be easily removed andreplaced to overcome wear and deterioration ,7 without replacing theWhole wheel and to provide alight butstrong and serviceable guard wheelthat is cheap to make and which will have a long life of service.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing. It is apparent that changes can be made in the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts without departing from the, spiritof the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims. We, therefore,do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described asthe preferred form only has been given by way of illustration.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. I is a side elevation showing a caster embodying the invention;

Fig. II is a front elevation 'of Fig. I;

gig. III is a top View of the guard wheel; an

Fig. IV is a cross section on line IV-IV of Fig. III.

,thetire 5; preferably {of soft, pliantirubb'er having its inner surfaceshapedjtor'fit' thb V tapered'edgeofthe central portion: llhe'top 1GUARD Guardfwheelson.fiastersai dlsmilar. (1a; vices have 'gone f into,quite extensive use where-it: is desiredto. rotect; -wa11s,o1f "otherarticles from being marred by contact with the-caster. They areparticularly usefuland inmuGh: demand hospital-s'jfor beds;fo pe eratingtablesandthe like. In the. aa uieyhave'been'made with'a wellorfdepi'ession jon the top surface in order to lighten the'gcongstructionwhile preserving, the wide contact: ing face offthe wheel.These 'well'swere'jnatg i. uiral. collectors of dust andgermswhich" werheldtrapped therein; Thesewwells' were also difiic-ult to clean} Theywere. a violat'i on' of the sanitary rulesioff'well' runhospitalsand-lasource ofmuch complaint. I It is. therefore one of theprimeobjeets of"the. invention to provide an improved "guardfwheelfthat is not only.freeffrom these defects but will'in addi tion tend toqshed. and deflectthe greater part 79 of (such collectionsJ j v It is clear that'theentirejconstruction of the-priorartguard wheels will'have tobe;discarded 'and jthe wheel r'e-de'sig'ned on en- .tirely. new lines andof"difterentflmaterials to reach the results thatwe' havese't forth 1Referring o the drawing' whereins-imilar reference characters denotecorrespbndin g partsth'rough'outzj a f Our guard 'wheelromprisesacenter" per- ,ti0n,.'1,f preferab1y of? hard rubber; composition,bakeliteffiber or. similar substance that is, both relatively hard andrelatively light.

The central;pprtion"1 hastherentralf bear-- ingpp in g "thereth rough'.The outer 1381- 'ripheryfof'fthe centrahportion lcha'sl thetaperedsurfaces or faces 31 and4; forming an inverted V shaped, edge? Aroundithe periphery offthe central portion f 1Q is secured surfacelfi whichextends over the central portion. 1 andthe tire portion 5:1is a'i'con'tinuous plane" surface sloping downwardly fro ia n t e n 'iflt' the x meedges} ofl'lthe tire; The, underside 7 ma be not. necessarily. so,andrthesurfaceiadjariveted'or otherwise secured at 14 to the fork;

member 12. The ball bearing 13 is centered on the stem 9 above the forkmember. Above the ball bearing is the bearing support or; 'boss' 15engaging the boss 8 on the surface 7 of the guard wheel. Throughthe'opening 2 of the guard wheel extends the bushing 16 whichproje'c'tsslightly above the surface'6'o'f the guard wheel." On top of the bushingis thelwasher 17 giving aslight clearance for thetop surface of theguardwlieel hence allowing it free, unbound, rotative movement on thebushing 16. "Above the washer 17 is the caster sleeve 18 into which derat thetop .of the bushing the washer 17 and the sleeve 18 if the guardthejstem 9 is fitted and held in place by the spri g19. I v

' In operation the; soft pliable 'rubberface 5 of the guard wheel willengage the contacting wall or article and will rotate on the bushing16to give a rolling'contact instead of can unyielding gouging contact.With the structure shown the; caster can be used either with or withoutthe guard wheel as the bushing 16 or a bearing surface of the samediameter on the stem 9 forming a shoulwill support wheel is removed, sothat'theone caster may be used eitherway.

It .willbe' noted thatthe top surface 6 of the guard wheel is smooth andcontinuous and inclined downwardly so that dust or opening to the rim,

a guard wheel for stem, said wheel having a relatively hard non-metalliccentral portion with a central bearing opening to fit on the stem and apro-.

jecting bearing boss surrounding the open-' ing on the lower face ofsaid central portion, and a relatively softjnon-metallic annular rimportion surrounding said central po-r-.

- t1on, the'upper surface of the and rim being a continuous convexcurved central portion rotatable mounting on the" surface and the lowersurface thereof being a a continuous concave curved Surface-except forthe said projecting bearing boss. 7 V

2. In a device of the character, described for usewith a caster bracketand a caster stem agua-rd wheel for rotatable mounting 'onifthe stem,said wheel having a relatively hard non: metallic central portionwithacentral bears:

ing opening to'fit around the stem and a rel atively soft non-metallic"annular rim portion surrounding said central portion, the upper surfaceof saidcentralportion and said rim portion being a continuous convexcurved surface from the opening to the rim; In a device-ofthecharacter'described for use with a casterbracket and a caster stemguardv'wheel for rotatable mounting on thestem, said wheel having arelatively hard non-metallic central portion with a central bearmgopemngto fit around the stem and a relatively soft non-metallic annularrimportion surrounding said" central portion, the

oining facesof'the rim and central portion being substantially V shapedand the upper I surface of said rim and central portion being acontlnuous convex curved surface fromthe FRANK JARVIS. i N Lson JARVIS.

other collections arenot trapped or held and that the same may be easilycleaned and disinfected. The guard wheel is, of solid and lightconstruction and so arranged that the soft pliable tire 5 may be snappedin place or removed, Wear and deterioration from age is easily takencare of by simply removing it ,the old tire '5 and snapping anew onevover the edge of the central portion 1, which may be retained and doesnot have to be replaced.

I The tire 5, may be either endless, or it may connected or otherbea'strip. with its ends I wisesecu-red together. .,If desired the tire 5-maybe cemented to the inner portion 1." If

it. is the tire maybe*remo-ved by cutting through the cross section ofthe tire, loosening an end and then stripping it oflf. This procedurewill not injure the inner portion 1 From the foregoing description itwill be I seen that we have provided exceedingly simllO ple,eflicientand economical means for obtaining all the advantages of the invention.

IIaving described our invention we claim: In a device of thecharacterdescribed for use wit'ha caster'br'acket-and caster Stem

